


Jump to hyperspace

by Taeyn



Series: cassian said I had to [10]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, First Meetings, M/M, Undercover Missions, undercover!Cassian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:24:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11232870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taeyn/pseuds/Taeyn
Summary: Cassian Andor needs an Imperial craft. He doesn’t expect to come face to face with the pilot.





	1. caught

**Author's Note:**

> in support and celebration of bodhicassian week, I'll be writing a 6 part story using the daily prompts as themes for each chapter. tysm for reading and wishing you a wonderful week! <3
> 
> day one: recovery au

Something was wrong.

Bodhi quickened his pace down the passageway, he could already see the codeswipe to his quarters had been left unsecured. Inside, he could hear the soft beep of a scanner, followed by several items being shuffled and dropped. His heart squeezed in his throat, but he forced his face to a neutral expression as he slid open the door.

Inside, Bodhi found himself face to face with a KX enforcer droid and an Imperial Security Officer- a Captain, by his rank bar. In his panic, Bodhi for a moment imagined he saw the droid flinch, much like the pair had been caught red-handed. It only took Bodhi a second to realise it was probably _him_ who had flinched, he was trembling badly enough that his salute felt uneven.

There was nothing even remotely contraband in Bodhi’s quarters.

That didn’t calm him one bit.

“Ensign Rook,” said the officer, more a statement than a question. A ranking Captain could call up his entire birth-to-current history on a whim, probably have it erased on even less.

“Yes. Yes, that’s me,” Bodhi said quickly, tugged self-consciously at the bandage encasing his left arm. The wound beneath smarted viciously, the time he needed in bacta was time he didn’t have.

“Can… can I be of assistance?” Bodhi swallowed on the pain, attempted to gesture to his belongings. Most inspections left his room looking worse than an insurgent sweep. This time, had he arrived minutes later, he wouldn’t have even known anyone had been there.

“No. I’m sure you were aware these inspections were being conducted?”

The stranger twitched his eyebrow, his tone bordering conversational. Beneath the Imperial grey of his cap, his eyes were wide and brown, crinkled at the edges. There was an ever increasing number of officials on the Jedha routes these days, most of them barely gave Bodhi a second glance. And, knowing what most officials were like, that suited Bodhi just fine. But there was something in the man’s gaze that felt familiar, somehow reminded him of home. Bodhi blinked, lowered his stare to the floor.

“I… yes. Yes, sir,” he said quietly, nodded. “Security’s being tightened after the cargo shipment raid. They told us route-patrol officers would be making sure nothing else goes missing.”

Bodhi wondered how many other bunks were being searched at this very moment, whether any of his colleagues weren’t quite as loyal to the Empire as they’d had him believe. Far from his initial impression of the droid being caught off-guard, it was now looming behind the officer in what Bodhi considered a deliberately menacing stance.

“Not missing, Ensign,” said the officer, his expression unreadable. “Stolen. The last cargo shipment was stolen.”

Bodhi’s mouth pulled down at the corners. His arm throbbed worse as he tried not to think about it, he felt ill and more guilty with each passing second. Bodhi knew the officer was, in his own way, searching him too.

“What happened?”

Bodhi could only shake his head, his inhale strangled in his throat. He and every pilot on the run had already been questioned about the rebel raid- _they knew what we were carrying, they knew how to get in_ \- and Bodhi knew nothing more now than he did then.

“Please, I-” Bodhi halted his apology as he realised the officer was gazing at his arm. The question hadn’t been about the cargo, but his injury.

“I, um. A blaster shot during the raid,” said Bodhi, took a breath to keep his voice steady. The rebel’s caged expression as he’d rounded the corner still burned bright in his mind.

The question Bodhi couldn’t answer, was why he hadn’t shot first.

The officer stared, a strange, quiet frown shadowing his features.

“Go back to medwing,” he said after a moment, a roughness to his tone that Bodhi wasn’t sure what to make of. “That won’t fix in a day.”

_I know,_ Bodhi thought miserably, bit the inside of his cheek to stop from wincing. _But I fly out in an hour._

If the officer picked up on Bodhi’s hesitation, it only seemed to trouble him more. He turned to the door, paused.

“Try to keep warm,” he said, expression darkening. The KX droid gave him a final unsettling stare.

Bodhi stood for a long while after they were out of sight.

Perhaps it wasn’t so much that the man reminded him of Jedha, nothing of his accent or manner spoke of Bodhi’s homeworld. But there was _something_ he couldn’t place, or at least, hadn’t felt for a long time.

Ironically, it was something so very far from all that was Imperial.

For a single, splintering second, Bodhi could almost believe such a choice existed.

-


	2. checked-out early

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 2 prompt: first times

Cassian didn’t have long. With the logbooks he had downloaded from Bodhi Rook’s quarters, he quickly pinpointed the cargo carrier they needed, K-2 plotting the way to the hanger via a non-central route.

The less Imperials who saw him, the less who might realise he didn’t belong.

“Initialising decoding sequence,” K-2 intoned, his metal hand splayed against the craft’s mainframe. A moment later the docking hatch hissed open, they both boarded with a confidence Cassian didn’t feel.

“That pilot. He was supposed to be at medbay,” Cassian murmured, unstrapping his field kit from the belt beneath his uniform whilst he spoke.

“He _was_ at medbay,” Kaytoo answered crisply. “Even accounting for delays in the server, human error, unprecedented rates of healing-”

Cassian shot his companion a dry glare, wondering, not for the first time, whether Kay was trying to lighten the situation as well as overanalyse it.

“It would appear he checked-out early,” K-2 finished, flat. He punched a complicated series of numbers into the ship’s navigation system, Cassian was meanwhile overriding manual shutdown. In another few minutes he’d be able to access the departure charts, reassign Bodhi Rook to another craft.

“Remove the-” Cassian turned to Kay, who was already holding up all four Imperial tracking chips. Cassian twitched to a smile.

A smile that swiftly fell as he heard footsteps on the boarding ramp.

There was an abrupt silence as Bodhi stepped into the fuselage and saw them, Cassian took a breath, prepared to deliver any number of plausible explanations.

He let it out a half-second later, with relief or regret he wasn’t sure. Bodhi wasn’t about to question a superior officer. He simply looked terrified.

“Sir…?” he breathed.

“Andor. Cassian, for now,” Cassian said brusquely, flinched his hand in warning when Kaytoo readied to interject. From the satchel beneath Bodhi’s injured arm, he guessed the pilot had decided tidying his ship would be a better use of his time than sleeping.

That, or the afterburn of the shot wouldn’t let him.

Cassian cut his stare away. Bodhi, meanwhile, seemed to be making some effort not to look at the disassembled flight control unit.

“We were inspecting for rebel tracking devices,” Kaytoo said stiffly, and Cassian gritted his jaw, silently willing the droid to leave it at that.

“And… we… found some.” Kay hastily crushed the Imperial tracking chips he’d been holding, then dusted the particles to one side. “There. Clear.”

Bodhi’s mouth dropped open, his eyes widening in panic.

“Those weren’t mine,” the pilot spluttered, glancing wildly around the cabin. “I swear, I swear on everything I-”

“I know they weren’t,” Cassian interrupted, terser than he would’ve liked. “The rebels must’ve planted them during the raid.”

Cassian watched as a vague trace of colour returned to Bodhi’s cheeks. He cleared his throat, drew another breath.

“A rushed job, by the looks of it. No harm done.”

From the corner of his eye, Cassian saw K-2 shift a fraction, he could already hear the lecture he’d get later. _No harm done,_ was hardly an Imperial turn of phrase, much less one that would be employed by anyone of authority.

“Okay,” Bodhi said weakly, his knees seemed to sink a little as he reached for the wall behind him. “Okay.”

At the other side of the hangar, a ground control team was unpacking for duty.

“Bodhi,” said Cassian, turned to face the viewport. An uncomfortable echo stretched between them whilst Cassian realised he should have said _Ensign Rook_.

“Captain?” Bodhi ventured. Cassian heard him take a step forward in the cabin, turned back around before he could take another.

_Get off the ship,_ Cassian wanted to say. _There’s no place for you, where we’re going._

“I’m afraid there’s-” he started roughly.

“-thank you,” whispered Bodhi at the same time, and Cassian frowned.

“For destroying the rebel trackers,” Bodhi continued, quiet. “If anyone else had found them, it wouldn’t have mattered if I knew anything about it or not.”

Cassian felt an unfamiliar tightening below his ribcage. If he let Bodhi go now, it was still Bodhi’s assigned ship that had been stolen.

Bodhi’s logbook and codes that had been used to unlock the door.

“I, just…” Bodhi trailed off, searching for the right words. Cassian felt an unexplainable urge to reach for him, tell him he was sorry.

“Just, thank you,” Bodhi finished, shook his head and gave a sad smile. “That’s the first time anyone’s ever done anything for me before.”

-


	3. on our side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 3 prompt: happy ending

Bodhi adjusted their trajectory, kept his eyes on the flight path ahead. Two hours ago he was near unconscious from a blaster wound. Now, he was responsible for transporting a high-ranking Imperial Captain to the largest mining facility on Jedha.

Things like this happened to anyone but him.

“And we’re away,” Bodhi said brightly, swallowed his smile when he saw the KX-enforcer droid tilt it’s head askance. As much as he didn’t wish to admit it, Bodhi had begun to hope the droid would be left behind. KX’s were intimidating enough simply walking around on patrol. Bodhi once had the unfortunate experience of witnessing just how useful they could be when a patrol went wrong.

“This is Kaytoo,” said the Captain, more reassuring than gruff. Bodhi grimaced in silent apology, wished for once he wasn’t so easy to read. “He’s… he’s alright.”

“He’s very… attentive,” Bodhi tried, though _protective_ had been his first thought. The droid seemed far more responsive to Bodhi’s presence in the cabin than he was used to. He’d also fixed the Captain with what appeared to be a deliberately pointed stare on being described as _‘alright’._

When there came no reply, Bodhi’s heart sank a little, dreading he had spoken out of turn. But then Cassian’s eyes pinched at the corners, he turned in his co-pilot’s chair and gave Kaytoo a barely perceptible nod. The droid’s processors made a low, incredulous-sounding whirr as he left them, making his way down into the cargo hold instead.

“He won’t hurt you,” the Captain said carefully. “I’ve… customised Kay’s programming slightly, to cater for the work I need to do. But he’s…”

Cassian’s eyes flicked to the dashcon, as if he might find the right words between the comms system and navigation instead.

“-he’s on our side,” finished Bodhi, understanding. Cassian looked up, his expression lost some of its softness. Bodhi wasn’t getting any better at holding the Captain’s gaze, swiftly dropped his stare toward flightcontrols instead.

That was when he realised- Cassian hadn’t been staring at the comms or navigation.

There was a small, faded photograph of his sister behind the dashboard, it must’ve come loose when they were searching for tracking devices.

“You have a family?” Cassian said sharply. Bodhi’s windpipe closed dry and sticky.

“We haven’t spoken for years,” he managed. Bodhi had long suspected his sister had ties to the rebellion, they had ceased correspondence as much for her protection as his. Now, it seemed, the Empire would know her face after all.

“Is she dependent on you?” Cassian insisted, gestured to the cargo shuttle when Bodhi didn’t follow.

“For credits?” Bodhi said after a second, tried to hide his surprise. “My sister’s never been dependent on anyone. Ever.”

Cassian dipped his head, troubled.

“If anything…” Bodhi hesitated. This wasn’t a conversation he was supposed to be having with a superior. But the way Captain Andor looked at him, fierce and searching and hurt…

He’d said goodbye to someone too.

“If anything, she looked after me,” Bodhi finished, picked up the photograph with his bandaged hand. “When we were kids, she’d never comfort me with stories- and Jedha is full of stories, by the way. But no, there were no mysterious Jedi warriors, no awakenings, nothing about anyone coming back to save us.”

“Why?” the Captain murmured, his voice coarse whenever he tried to lower it.

“When you live in an occupied city, you have to make your own way,” Bodhi said quietly. “There are no magic happy endings.”

His jaw tucked to his chest, Bodhi unwrapped his pouch of waterproof matches. In a regime where personal ties served only as leverage, he knew he should’ve done it far sooner.

The cabin felt still and empty as he knelt to the floor.

“You don’t-” the Captain started, but Bodhi shook his head, struck one of the flimsy sticks and held it to the corner of the photograph.

He watched as his sister’s face slowly vanished into the light, bit his lip so the tears wouldn’t fall.

Bodhi thought he heard Cassian move, felt a hand at his shoulder when he couldn’t bring himself to stand. Cassian’s grip was gentle, steadying when Bodhi felt himself sway. Before he knew what he was doing, he covered Cassian’s hand with his own, clenched with all his strength until he felt himself fall apart.

_A Jedi may not come back to save us,_ Bodhi willed into the night. _But one day, I will._

_-_


	4. when you had the chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 4 prompt: dealing with anxiety/depression  
> chapter note: contains mild canon-typical violence
> 
> So, out of all the parts I have written/planned, this chapter has definitely been the trickiest in terms of keeping with the ongoing-story challenge and also exploring themes of anxiety and/or depression. I originally wanted to do an individual piece looking at Cassian experiencing moments of depression when things are quiet between missions, then very much ran out of time! (maybe a one-shot later on! c:) But yes, for now, this part is more subtly about Cassian at times feeling too little from the war, whereas Bodhi feels it all too much.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading so far! <3

The ship made a thin popping sound as they exited hyperspace, the atmosphere of Jedha lurching into focus. Cassian held his breath, exchanged a sharp look with K-2.

Alliance Intelligence indicated the moon was serving as a temporary refuelling station for mid-rim transporters. Now, judging only from the number of cargo carriers in orbit, Cassian’s suspicions were confirmed.

There was something far more valuable below the surface.

“Touching down at Jedha Core Mining Facility in three minutes,” Bodhi said formally, transmitting his landing codes to the station.

Cassian gave a quick nod, ran a hand over his mouth. He’d prepared for countless different scenarios on arrival, but none of them had involved a third party. K-2 was also giving him a particularly unsubtle stare. The craft had travelled slower than anticipated, they were overdue for their first report back to base.

“We’re getting an inconsistent readout on the energy cells,” Cassian murmured, Bodhi’s eyebrows immediately knotting together in alarm.

“I’ll check the manual gauge,” he said hurriedly, jogged toward the cargo holding area as the floor rattled below. Overheating was a widely-known issue in older zeta-class shuttles, and one that Cassian hoped they’d never actually have to face.

For now, the lie would buy him enough time to check-in with Draven, Kaytoo adjusting the frequency on the comms system as the landing pad grew closer.

“SW-0609, come in,” Cassian said quietly, the static that answered in return far from encouraging. It was the best they were going to get, without risking the signal being picked-up. “SW-0609-”

Cassian paused, stared out through the viewport. He could see only grey as they lowered through the cloud cover, a cold, creeping heaviness to the depth of it. There was nothing- nothing that made any sense at least- but Cassian felt increasingly uneasy.

“We were right,” he said softly, then disconnected the line.

He only needed one glance, one sample of whatever it was the Empire was collecting...

“Cassian,” K-2 said after a moment, and Cassian flinched his head, terse.

Every instinct that had ever kept him alive was shouting that they needed to pull out.

“Your strained facial expression is indicative of an impending change in the plan,” Kay continued.

The craft was already touching down.

“Bodhi,” Cassian said suddenly, turning heel and striding down the fuselage. He found the pilot bent over the fuel gauge, triple-checking for any particle leaks that may have caused a false readout.

“How quickly can you turn us around?”

Bodhi stared up in astonishment, his hand leaving a swipe of grease across his brow when he tried to push back his hair.

“Turn us… now? Without the cargo?”

Cassian didn’t have time to respond. A disengaging signal sounded from outside the loading hatch, followed by the distinct whirr of a blaster charging. Cassian flattened himself behind a row of holding crates, jerked his hand for Bodhi to do the same.

Bodhi stood frozen, gaping and trembling on the spot.

The door opened.

“Ensign Rook, Bodhi, pilot registration R-2391,” said a processed voice. Stormtroopers.

“...yes?” Bodhi croaked, still vaguely blinking in Cassian’s direction. The troopers approached, Cassian counted four separate sets of footsteps. Silent, he unclipped his blaster.

“You are to be detained until further notice,” the voice came again, there was a dull echo as the soldiers moved across the craft. “Search the ship.”

Bodhi veered backward, brow furrowed in disbelief. In the second before he was seized, Cassian saw a breath lift his shoulders, an almost-hopeful smile at the corner of his mouth. He was waiting, trusting even as the troopers marched toward him, that Cassian would step out and clear up the confusion.

And then he was gone.

“Wait!” Bodhi yelped, footsteps clumsy as he was hauled down the loading ramp. Cassian clenched his jaw, blinked sweat from his eyes. Another moment and they’d be halfway across the landing pad, Kaytoo would take care of the remaining soldiers while he resealed the door for takeoff.

They could break atmosphere before the incident was logged as anything more than a precaution.

“No, no, there must be a mistake-” came Bodhi, his voice rising with the urgency of it. “There’s clearly been some misunderstanding, if you could please just-”

There was a muffled clatter as the pilot tripped, the scuffling of boots as no one waited for him to get up. From inside the fuselage echoed two heavy thuds, Kay raised a hand to give the signal for all-clear. Cassian squeezed shut his eyes, gritted his teeth.

The craft’s override circuits were barely an arm's length away.

Bodhi’s pleas were growing ever fainter.

“-listen, I’m telling you, I’ve been assigned to special task transport, I-”

In a single, swift motion, Cassian pitched out from behind the holding crate. In two paces he was at the door, fired a shot at the stormtrooper holding Bodhi. He re-aimed before the second soldier had even drawn, watched the armored figure hit the floor at a strange, sickening angle. Neither moved again.

Cassian’s mouth was grimaced and his hands still wrapped around the weapon as Bodhi turned to face him.

“We need to go,” Cassian yelled, made a brisk gesture for Bodhi to run back inside.

But Bodhi wasn’t looking at him with any sort of hope anymore.

“Cassian,” Kay said apprehensively, Cassian held Bodhi’s gaze.

“Who are you?” Bodhi whispered, now shaking so fiercely he could barely stand. Cassian moved to help him, but Bodhi held up both hands in panic. Cassian stopped still.

“Cassian Andor,” said Cassian, for once he felt frightened too. “My name is Cassian Andor, you have my word that was true. And my word that I’ll be honest with you, if you come with me. But if you stay, I…”

Bodhi’s eyes were dark and wet. His breath was coming in short gasps, his throat strangled around words Cassian couldn’t hear. He didn’t need to ask what had happened to make Bodhi like this, needing to run but being frozen in place.

The war had happened. It had happened to all of them.

“If you stay, I don’t know how it’ll end,” Cassian said desperately. He’d given better speeches under pressure, talked his way out of more captures than most agents had stories.

The truth was hard and uncertain, rang of all he stood to lose.

Bodhi took a step forward, for once he didn’t break Cassian’s stare.

“I believe you,” he said.

Cassian’s windpipe stung with relief as he held out his hand.

“ _That,_ ” said a voice Cassian didn’t recognise, “ _is unfortunate._ ”

When Cassian whipped around, the sleek, scowling helmet of an Imperial deathtrooper was bearing down on him. Kaytoo was being subdued by two more. The deathtrooper raised his blaster, swiped it hard into the side of Cassian’s skull. The last thing he heard was a low choking noise from Bodhi, followed by the smooth, modulated rasp of the Imperial’s speech.

“Should’ve left when you had the chance.”

-


	5. if you get us onboard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 5 prompt: force sensitive Bodhi Rook  
> chapter note: contains canon-typical violence
> 
> this was one of my favourite prompts for bodhicassian week, I'm so happy it ended up being one of those chosen! ^^ so here we go, a lot of things go wrong (and some things go right :'')

_No matter the facility,_ Bodhi thought miserably, pressed his sleeve to Cassian’s head wound. _There’s never any shortage of Imperial holding cells._

Cassian gave a hoarse murmur as he came round, eyes moving behind his lids. He coughed, dry and urgent, tried to sit up as Bodhi reached for his water flask.

“You’ve had a bad injury,” Bodhi said quickly, Cassian was shivering as he collapsed back onto the ground. “Do you feel numb anywhere? Do you remember our landing on Jedha?”

Cassian slitted open an eye, Bodhi held the flask for him to drink. He still seemed disoriented, and not two seconds had passed before he coughed again, this time spitting out most of the water he was trying to swallow.

“Sorry,” Cassian said thickly, Bodhi tried to rub between his shoulders.

“We’re in a containment cell,” Bodhi whispered, Cassian’s hands were fumbling for the pouch strapped to his ankle. Bodhi shook his head.

They’d already taken it.

Realising the same, Cassian swiftly abandoned the effort, his stare now travelling to each corner of their surroundings. Gritting his boot against the wall, he was about to make another attempt to stand when something stopped him, he narrowed his eyes.

“Are you hurt?” Cassian rasped. His gaze fell to the bandage on Bodhi’s arm, far shabbier than when they’d landed.

“No... this is the one I prepared earlier,” Bodhi offered, and to his surprise, Cassian shot him a woozy smile.

“Where’s Kaytoo?” was his next question, but to that Bodhi didn’t know. He hadn’t seen the droid since they were dragged from the ship.

“We’ll find him,” Bodhi murmured, realised he was reaching for Cassian’s hand. He hadn’t meant to say something so unhelpful- in fact, he couldn’t remember an Imperial prisoner _ever_ finding anything except a labor camp sentence- but Cassian’s determination in the hangar had awakened in him something he thought the Empire had taken for good.

“Why didn’t you leave?” Bodhi asked softly. “There was time for you. And I’m an Imperial.”

The cool shadow of the cell seemed to close around them, Cassian’s stare didn’t falter in the dark.

“Are you?” he answered.

Bodhi blinked, the dull ache of his blaster wound felt nearer on the words. He remembered the shouts, a low, droning siren. He was back in the flight hangar, the words _raid_ and _lockdown_ echoing through the passageways. The emergency power had failed, he was bolting around the corners on memory alone.

And then there was the rebel, dark-eyed, unarmed, wrong turn, no time. The blaster was in Bodhi’s hand. He had every opportunity. He raised the weapon.

“You might need this,” Bodhi said quietly. “If you’re going to make it out of here.”

From another passageway, a volley of shots whizzed past. Bodhi turned, dived in front, the halogens shuddering overhead and the taste of carbon at his throat. When the lights spluttered back to life the rebel was gone, his wrist left burning and dark.

“No,” Bodhi said under his breath, louder when he knew it to be true.

He knew why Cassian looked so familiar.

“Not anymore.”

The admission stretched between them, Bodhi’s face was damp with tears. Cassian reached his hand, grazed the inside of his palm to Bodhi’s cheek. He looked more wounded than Bodhi had ever seen, and before he could guess, or think, or hesitate, Bodhi leant forward, brushed his lips where Cassian’s had gently parted. For a half-second the rebel’s eyes widened, raw and searching, his fingers trembled where they caged below Bodhi’s jaw. And then Cassian was kissing him back, his mouth warm and stinging and wet, rough as Bodhi pulled him close. Cassian kissed with a tenderness that knocked the air from his lungs, Bodhi’s hands tangled fiercely in the taller man's hair, his flight goggles slipped to the floor. Cassian held him until his stare blurred bright and torn, Bodhi closed his arms around Cassian’s neck.

“If there's a chance, I want you to take it,” Cassian whispered, his mouth flinched to a snarl as footsteps sounded outside.

He looked surprisingly impassive by the time two stormtroopers entered the cell.

“Let’s move,” came the command, Cassian’s wrists were bound at his front with energy cuffs. Bodhi wondered why he didn’t receive the same treatment, the decision leaving him unsettled rather than reassured. They had barely marched the length of the holding cell before Cassian’s balance wavered, one of the troopers driving him forward with a shove. Bodhi saw a trickle of fresh blood leak from Cassian’s wound.

“I want to speak to Tss’uek,” said Bodhi, daring to hope the one officer who seemed fair was on duty. The stormtroopers only laughed, the sound so empty that Bodhi couldn’t bring himself to ask again.

“Do you know who he _is_ , in the Alliance?” said the trooper holding Cassian. He shook Cassian for emphasis, and alarmingly, Cassian looked so drained that he didn’t notice.

“Where’s our droid?” Bodhi demanded, desperate for something to distract them. He had some idea that if he could only stall long enough, Cassian might only be pretending, he’d use some secret rebel move to free himself from the cuffs and disarm their captors in one.

The stormtroopers didn’t slow their pace.

There were no magic happy endings.

“Did you reprogram the droid?” said the taller one, jerked Cassian viciously when he stumbled. “I hope you had a backup at home.”

Cassian’s head rolled forward as he fought to remain conscious.

“Stop that,” Bodhi said softly, his nails digging into his palms as he tried to think.

“And do _you_ have any idea what happens to traitors?” the second trooper said, quieter now. “It’s worse than what’ll happen to him. He’ll disappear without note. _You’ll_ set an example.”

From somewhere faraway, Bodhi realised the words were meant to scare him. And, not so long ago, they would’ve. But right now, all he could see was Cassian, his face unflinching as the troopers shook him again, blood tracing the line of his jaw and spattering onto his shoulder. When they got no reaction, an armoured boot kicked into the side of Cassian’s knee. Still Cassian showed them nothing.

“Stop that,” said Bodhi, louder. He could sense his pulse racing, feel the roll of a sweatdrop over Cassian’s lip. He could hear the rattle of Cassian’s lungs as he struggled not to cry out in pain, taste blood as Cassian bit into his tongue.

“Stop! Stop it!” Bodhi shouted, his wrists were seized before he could lunge forward. In the same instant, Cassian’s energy cuffs flickered, opened and clattered heavily to the floor. The stormtrooper who had been shaking him had frozen. Bodhi could barely breathe.

“Let go of me,” he said slowly, felt the air prickle and seize as the second stormtrooper’s arms loosened from his wrists.

Cassian was trembling, from shock or from what he was seeing Bodhi wasn’t sure.

“It isn’t possible…” Cassian whispered.

_It isn’t,_ thought Bodhi, his heart clawing in his chest. _But I have to try._

“You will tell me the location of the KX droid,” Bodhi said clearly, fixed his gaze on the stormtrooper nearest to him.

“I will tell you the droid has been restrained on your cargo ship, awaiting inspection by the General,” recited the stormtrooper. Cassian held himself up on the opposing wall.

“And you will tell me the condition of the cargo ship,” Bodhi said calmly.

“I will tell you that the ship has been landlocked, all clearance codes erased,” answered the trooper. Bodhi felt his windpipe tighten, he shot Cassian a despairing look.

“If you get us onboard,” Cassian said huskily. “Kaytoo and I can do the rest.”

When Bodhi stared up, Cassian managed a grim nod. His eyes had come back into focus.

“You will provide us with your armor and weapons,” Bodhi addressed both soldiers, his tone left no room for question. “And afterward return to our cell. And lock the door,” he added.

“And forget you ever saw us,” Cassian said hopefully.

“And forget you ever saw us,” said Bodhi.

Only once disguised in the stormtroopers’ armor, an emergency bacta patch plastered to Cassian’s brow and the door of the shuttle closing behind them, did Bodhi allow himself to believe.

-


	6. what choices came before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> day 6 prompt: friends to lovers
> 
> So on the very cusp of day 6, I have finally got this together! :_)) I just wanted to say thank you so much again for reading, there’s something kind of scary about committing to these things and not knowing if it’ll strike a chord with anyone, so the comments and kudos have really meant a lot to me and been an amazing encouragement each day! So, thank you so much for these feels and I hope you enjoy the ending~! <3

They cleared the moon’s atmosphere, the mining facility spinning to a distant, coppery curve. The stars waned to ribbons of light as Cassian made the jump to hyperspace, K-2SO held tight to the flight controls as the shuttle creaked in protest.

“We’ve depleted most of our shield backup,” the droid informed him. One of his oculars was dimmed as a result of circuit rupture, there was a deep gouge in the metal plating at his chest. They’d barely reached lightspeed before Cassian had his field kit in hand, Kaytoo glancing up in surprise.

“Cassian...”

“Hold still,” Cassian interrupted. Standing gave him roughly the same height as Kay in the pilot’s seat, he could have the damaged wiring replaced before they were halfway to Yavin.

“Cassian-”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a security droid?” Cassian muttered, searching through his kit for a central fitting. “How’d those deathtroopers get round the back of the ship anyway?”

“ _Cassian,_ ” said K-2, halting when Cassian fixed him with a glare.

“I’m not the one you need to talk to,” the droid said quietly.

Cassian drew a breath, swallowed. The coil of wires felt heavy in his hand, the ache at his temple creeping to the back of his throat.

“I feel like I’m about to be ill,” Cassian said warily, shot Kay an exasperated frown when the droid only twitched his head, amused.

“According to my core data on human behaviour,” K-2 intoned, gentler when Cassian leant into the chair beside him. “That for once sounds about right.”

Cassian couldn’t quite manage a smile, the corners of his mouth doing something uneven instead.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Cassian,” said Kaytoo, then turned back to the dashcon.

Slowly, Cassian made his way across the fuselage, knocked on the hatch before climbing down. Bodhi hadn’t moved from the cargo hold since takeoff.

Cassian was pretty sure he was the last person Bodhi wanted to see.

On the lower carrier, Cassian found Bodhi staring through one of the viewports. One arm was crossed vaguely across his chest, the other slack by his side. In his hand, his flight goggles were slung loosely from his fingers, bumped against the leg of his flight suit as he breathed out.

Cassian lowered his gaze to the floor.

“It’s alright,” Bodhi murmured, when Cassian didn’t approach. “I’m alright.”

Cassian squeezed his knuckles, wished he had the words to make anything he needed to say easier. Whatever stability Bodhi might’ve had with the Empire, that was no longer an option. There’d be no goodbyes, no chance to collect anything of personal value. Bodhi offered a small thread of a smile.

He already knew.

“Was it...” Bodhi’s voice wavered, he silently urged himself on. “...was it you who stole the cargo shipment? During the raid, I mean?”

Cassian looked up in case Bodhi needed to face him, considered what it was he was asking.

“No,” Cassian said slowly, watched as Bodhi’s stare flickered to the wall. “But it may as well have been. We staged the raid as a distraction, to get me in.”

Bodhi gave a quick nod, he seemed to have guessed something similar.

“Did you…” Bodhi ventured, and Cassian grimaced, his eyes stung as he tried keep his gaze level.

_have help?_

_think you’d make it out?_

_...kill anyone along the way?_

“Did you manage to take anything good?” Bodhi tried. The lightness in his tone didn’t quite come easy, but the intention behind it was there.

“If the resistance ever needs to dredge a swamp,” Cassian offered, a hand slung awkwardly into his pocket. “I’m sure twenty-three crates of excess rock cuttings will definitely come in handy.”

Something in his ribcage loosened as Bodhi gave a crooked smile.

“That’s why I had to get to Jedha,” Cassian said quietly. “At the very least, to see what’s being mined. No one generates that much debris unless they’re digging deep.”

Bodhi tucked his arms around his middle, troubled.

“They… the Empire… they don’t share information about classified cargo with pilots,” he started, and Cassian dipped his head. That he already knew.

“But they do with the scientists…. and engineers,” Bodhi continued. When he drew his hand from beneath his vest, Cassian saw in his palm a small, rough-cut crystal. It was jagged at one edge, looked to have been broken from a larger surface.

Perhaps in a hurry.

“Nak’tra?” breathed Cassian, the stalactite caverns of the Wookiee homeworld stirring in his memory.

“Kyber,” Bodhi said sadly. “It was stripped from the temple near where I grew up. I… I told a friend on Eadu once, that if I ever found a piece, I’d like to return it there.”

Cassian felt an unfamiliar pinch in his windpipe when Bodhi held the crystal out to him.

“This turned up where I sit in the canteen a few days later,” he murmured.

Cassian gazed at him, didn’t move. He’d long hardened himself to the conditions that forced men to choose the Empire, sometimes he couldn’t bring himself think of them as men.

It was strange to consider that in another part of the galaxy, an Imperial had risked more than his job to bring Bodhi hope.

“Keep it,” Cassian whispered. “For when you go home.”

Bodhi shook his head, a smile crumpling the corners of his mouth. He pressed the kyber into Cassian’s palm.

“My home has been lost for a long time,” he said, and though it was soft, his voice didn’t shake. “I want to help you make sure no one else loses theirs.”

They stood, Bodhi’s hand clasped over Cassian’s, the warmth of the crystal in between.

“There’s a place… a home, for you, in the Resistance,” Cassian said huskily. His heart was already sinking as Bodhi’s eyes followed down to his alliance-issue captain’s jacket, his insignia now clearly visible.

“As a defector,” Bodhi uttered, as though he hadn’t quite gotten used to the word.

“As someone fighting for what’s right,” Cassian answered, more feeling behind it than he intended.

“When I joined, I knew what the Empire was,” said Bodhi, his voice hollow in the empty carrier. “Not everything, or even most things. But what I did know should’ve stopped me.”

He looked to Cassian, his eyes raw and dry.

“...and it didn’t.”

The floor of the shuttle hummed beneath them, the dark beyond the viewport flaring, fading.

“The choice you’ve made,” Cassian said quietly, “doesn’t mean less on account of what choices came before.”

“It doesn’t undo them either,” said Bodhi, scrunched his fist into the Imperial emblem on his shoulder.

Cassian felt a weight beneath his lungs as he exhaled.

“That’s why you have to keep fighting,” said Cassian, no longer sure where the words were coming from. “And pushing. And trying. Until it means something.”

A tear slid from Cassian’s eye, he felt Bodhi’s fingers thread between the rougher clasp of his. When a sob knotted in his throat, Bodhi wrapped both arms around the taller man, his cheek soft where Cassian’s was scarred. Bodhi kissed him, slow and deep, Cassian stumbled on an incoherent sound. Bodhi kissed him again, gentler, Cassian cupped his hands to Bodhi’s jaw, brows leant together and Bodhi’s eyes reaching back for him.

“It already does,” said Bodhi, and whether through the Force, years spent being other people, the war or something just as intangible, Cassian found something of himself waiting in the pilot’s arms.

He didn’t let go.

-


End file.
